Restless Legs Syndrome and Leg Cramps

Nocturnal leg cramps constitute a relatively common complaint in the general practice of medicine and may be very distressing to the patient. Not only is the cause obscure and the treatment relatively unsatisfactory, but even its proper medical name, systremma (anything twisted up together), is unknown to most physicians.

Restless Leg Syndrome:

Classic restless leg syndrome is a mixed sensorimotor form in which pain, numbness, and lightning stabs of pain in the lower or even the upper limbs are relieved by movement or local massage.

Naturopathic Approach

A naturopathic approach to treating someone with RLS often includes supplementing you’re the patient’s diet with a specific form of magnesium that has the most affinity for the muscle tissue. Magnesium is America’s #1 mineral deficiency with an estimated 98% of the population being deficient. Since stress will cause the body to excrete magnesium in the urine, saliva, sweat and tears, this then makes perfect sense that most of us are deficient. RLS may also be caused by low dopamine. Iron is the rate limiting mineral for dopamine production. Simple blood tests including a Complete Blood Count and ferritin level will confirm if there is an iron deficiency.